ECUMENICAL APOLOGETICS:

‘Ministries’ to NRM/New Religions Movements

Mainstreaming Mormonism

The
World Congress of Families––NGO of the United Nations

Harold O.J. Brown,
who has appeared on the Christian Research Institute’s CRI JOURNAL
[Walter Martin/Hank Hanegraaff] masthead since 1995 as Contributing Editor is
also a Consulting Editor for Christianity Today. Brown is on the faculty
of World Magazine’s World Journalism Institute/WJI and on the advisory of the
Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity/CBHD. [WJI and CHBD are covered
briefly in Spiritual Counterfeits Project Part 1
[WJI] and Part 4 [CHBD].
Brown serves
as a representative/ spokesman for the
Howard Center /
World Congress of Families with Herbert I. London the President/
trustee of Hudson Institute. [Hudson
Institute is a Council on Foreign Relations/CFR-related
org; many of the Hudson Trustees are members of the globalist CFR.]
CRI JOURNAL, Spring 1996 carries a book review by Brown. His listed
credentials are Professor of Ethics at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School/TEDS
and Director of the Rockford Institute Center on Religion and Society.

Understanding how the various World Congress of Families orgs connect…

Our legacy
goes back to 1976 when Rockford College President John A. Howard founded the
Rockford College Institute. When Dr. Howard left Rockford College a year or two
later he changed the name of the organization to The Rockford Institute. In
October 1997, Dr. Howard and then-Rockford Institute President Allan C. Carlson
separated from The Rockford Institute to form The Howard Center for Family,
Religion, and Society.

The Howard
Center’s project is the World Congress of Families [WCF]. One of the
main offices for the WCF is
based at Brigham
Young University [BYU is
Mormon].

Tom Minnery of
Focus on the Family is on the World Congress
of Families Planning Committee,
as is William Mattox of Focus’s Washington, D.C. political affiliate of
Family Research Council. Focus on the
Family’s Shirley Dobson, wife of James Dobson [member of the secret
Council on National Policy/CNP], is the
official Chair of the National Day of Prayer
[a project of the Lausanne Consultation’s
Mission America]. The National Day of Prayer* encourages the joining
together of people of “all faiths.”

One of the World Congress of Families gatherings was held at the headquarters of Focus on
the Family in Colorado Springs [followed by
several planning committee meetings] in 2001.
In a letter writtenprior to the event, Brian Cooper, a FOTF
employees and director of an independent ministry to Mormons, Freedom Quest,
challenged James Dobson on Scriptural
grounds about the wisdom of such a gathering––Christians,
Mormons Muslims and Hindus together. He was fired from Focus on
the Family. He organized a small group to picket the event and alert other FOTF
employees. See transcript of Meeting between
Brian Cooper & Tom Minnery.

To quell growing concerns of the FOTF staff, a memorandum was issued
by Minnery:

Official Focus on the Family Memorandum

“From the Desk of Tom Minnery”

[Focus
on the Family Logo]

MEMORANDUM

From the
Desk of Tom Minnery

DATE: July
12, 2001

To: All
Staff

RE: FOF
Involvement With Non-Evangelical Groups

Greetings to
all! As you may know, for the past few days Focus on the Family has been serving
as the host organization for a meeting of the Planning Committee of the Third
World Congress of the Family.
A few of our employees have had questions about the purpose of this gathering
and Focus’s role in the proceedings. You may also be aware that our involvement
with this gathering has given rise to outside criticism for our supposed
“alliance” with non-evangelical groups like the Mormons and the Muslims.
In accordance with our standard policy of keeping staff as fully informed as
possible with regard to issues of ministry-wide concern, we have prepared the
attached statement explaining both the extent and intent of Focus on the
Family’s connections with non-evangelicals. It has been crafted with extreme
care, every word having been subjected to the approval of the entire Executive
Cabinet. Please study it carefully and feel free to use it in responding to
friends, neighbors, and other members of the community who may have questions or
concerns about our activities in this area.

I’ll close
with a word of thanks to each and every one of you who has worked so hard to
help us maintain the purity of Focus on the Family’s evangelical witness to
Christ. “Let us not become weary in well-doing!” (Galatians 6:9) Keep up the
good work, and God bless you all. ~ emphasis
added

Surrendering All Doctrine

The
mission statement of the World Congress of Families/WCF states that, all
theological differences must be set aside as a requirement for membership.The World Congress
of Families is an NGO of the United Nations
[non-governmental organization/member], as is the URI/United Religions Initiative–– Circle of
Cooperation. SeeUnited Religions
Initiative/URI
becomes a NGO of the United Nations.

Editor’s
Note: The National Day of Prayer offered a poster in 2001 which was the
image of George Washington kneeling with a teenager [in a tee shirt and
jeans/2000 dress- style]. The artist was Alan Freiberg, a Mormon, who is the
official illustrator for the Book of Mormon ––those editions which carry
illustrations.

Ronald Enroth and associates …

Promos
for the Mormon Church

Enroth’s
endorsement––‘This is a landmark book!”–– appeared on the book cover of A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation, How Wide
the Divide?Written by Denver
Seminary’s Craig Blomberg and Brigham Young University’s Stephen Robinson, the
book was published by InterVarsity Pressin 1997.

Endorsements on the back
cover included Richard Mouw, President of Fuller
Theological Seminary and Consulting Editor at Christianity Today:
"Some of us have argued, against the relativizers of
religious truth, that dialogue with other perspectives should never preclude
efforts at evangelism. But neither should a commitment to evangelism rule out
genuine engagement in dialogue… The dialogue between Evangelicals and Mormons
is long overdue." ~ emphasis added

Doug Groothius’s
endorsement was also on the back cover of How Wide the Divide? Groothuis
has been listed on the Christian Research
Institute’s CRI JOURNAL masthead as Contributing Editor
since as early as SUMMER1988; and throughout the years [2001
official CRI Journal masthead]He
has appeared on the Spiritual Counterfeit Project’s
Board of Reference as was InterVarsity Press’s Senior Editor James Sire.
Groothuis’s books are published by InterVarsity Press. He is on the faculty at
Denver Seminary* with EMNR founders,
Gordon Lewis and Vernon Grounds and author Craig Blomberg. Vernon Grounds,
Chancellor of Denver Seminary, is a Corresponding Editor at Christianity Today.

*Denver
Seminary is a member of the Rockefeller-affiliated Association
of Theological Schools/ATS
[serving as the accrediting agency to seminaries]

Craig
Blomberg’s
curriculum–– Foundations of the New Testament–– is highly
recommended/promoted through the influential Council of Christian Colleges and
Universities [CCCU]. The Council of
Christian Colleges and Universities/CCCU,
which exerts considerable control over Christian educational institutions,
interacts with the John Templeton Foundation. CCCU/Council for Christian
Colleges and Universities works in
partnership with
theJOHN
TEMPLETON FOUNDATION.

"Real
Answers: Jesus, The Search Continues,"
a new, original special, will air on INSP/The Inspiration cable network.
Ankerberg appears with Dead Sea Scroll Scholars and others including: Craig
Blomberg [author of How Wide The Divide?; faculty Denver Seminary],
William Lane Craig/Research professor at Biola’s Talbot School of Theology
and fellow at Discovery Institute’s Center for the Renewal of Science and
Culture/CRSC [Discovery has ties to the globalist Council on
Foreign Relations/CFR-related
Hudson Institute and the RAND Corporation.], Randall Price [associate of
Dave Hunt; Price’s
World of the Bible Ministries board of reference has
CNP/Council for National Policy members: John Ankerberg, Tim LaHaye and
David Breese] and Gary Habermas, Professor of Apologetics, Liberty
University [President Jerry Falwell/CNP]

“In his new
book Faith of the Fatherless: the Psychology of Atheism, psychologist
Paul C. Vitz of New York University argues that the major objections to belief
in God are often psychological, not rational.”

Paul Vitz and a Pew Charitable Trusts grant

Funded by The Pew
Charitable Trusts

This
conference will focus on the notion of the "autonomous self" that lies at the
foundation of modern psychology and the ways in which postmodern culture has
eroded or swept away this self. Presentations will discuss the difficulty of
defining one's self. How can one escape the contemporary fragmentation and loss
of the self? What is the meaning of a transmodern self? What fundamental nature
of the self is found in embodiment and in strong, especially early,
relationships? Can the properties of embodiment and relationships be linked to
contemporary theology?How
do they relate to cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy?

A related IRR web site,
for which there seems to be no direct link from the IRR web page, is
Mormons in Transition <http://www.irr.org/mit/default.html>,
“sponsored by the Institute for Religious Research.”

(Ed note: The
name Mormons in Transition is part of a blatant pattern that we are
seeing more and more––the vague implication that the Mormon Church, and not only
the Mormon Church but, that many of the false religions are changing
for the better––especially
through dialogue––the false notion
that they are becoming more Christian.)

Mormonism might become “…just another
Christian denomination.”

The Mormons in Transition
home page carries an article by ecumenicist John
Neuhaus, director of the Institute on Religion and Public Life.

“Richard
John Neuhaus, a respected advocate for inter-religious cooperation,
responds.”

FatherRichard John Neuhaus
is the author of a number of books, including The
Naked Public Square, and is Editor-in-Chief of First Things, a
monthly publication of the Institute on Religion and Public Life. The
Institute is an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education
organization whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public
philosophy for the ordering of society. This article appeared in the March
2000 issue First Things.

The
Neuhaus article rambles on and on about “much to admire in Mormonism”…

Neuhaus
and the old ecumenical spin working together on cultural issues for the
family and respect for our fellow religious person:

…Although there is this curious thing of recent years that many
conservative Christians warmly welcome Mormons as allies in various cultural
tasks.
To cite but one recent instance, it was an alliance of Catholics,
evangelicals, and Mormons that was instrumental in persuading the people of
Hawaii to reject same-sex marriage…

There’s a Mormon
on the board of the Institute on Religion and Public Life:

…Ours is an interreligious enterprise [Neuhaus’ publication
is First Things],
basically but not exclusively Jewish and Christian.Dr.
BruceHafen
is on our Editorial Advisory Board. He has held prominent positions in the
Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS),
including that of provost and dean of the law school at Brigham Young
University.
I can’t say that many of my friends are Mormons, but some are. We are
obliged to respect human dignity across the board, and to affirm common
discernments of the truth wherever we find them. Where we disagree we should
try to put the best possible construction on the position of the other,
while never trimming the truth. That will become more important as Mormons
become more of a presence, both in this country and the world. There are
about ten million of them now, with about one-half of the membership in the
U.S.…

Marriage
becomes the common ground for Moonies, Mormons and Christians:

…One
thinks, for instance, of the
Unification Church of Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
There are other similarities between Mormonism and the Unification Church,
such as the emphasis on the celestial significance of marriage and family.
According to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, "Gods and humans are the
same species of being, but at different stages of development in a divine
continuum, and the heavenly Father and Mother are the heavenly pattern,
model, and example of what mortals can become through obedience to the
gospel."

And
Neuhaus splits fine hairs on various types of dialogue:

…Few
dispute that Islam is a new and another religion, and Muslims do not claim
to be Christian, although they profess a deep devotion to Jesus. Like Joseph
Smith and his followers, they do claim to be the true children of Abraham.
Christians in dialogue with Islam understand it to be an interreligious, not
an ecumenical, dialogue. Ecumenical dialogue is dialogue between Christians.
Dialogue with Mormons who represent official LDS teaching is interreligious
dialogue.

Mormons
just might be the future of Christianity:

…One
must again keep in mind that
Mormonism is still very young.
It is only now beginning to develop an intellectually serious theological
tradition. Over
the next century and more, those who are now the "dissidents and exiles" may
become the leaders in the forging, despite the formidable obstacles, a
rapprochement with historic Christianity, at which point the dialogue could
become ecumenical.

In
closing:

…The
leadership of the LDS will have to decide whether its growth potential is
enhanced or hampered by
presenting Mormonism as a new religion
or
as, so to speak,
another Christian denomination.
Sometimes they seem to want to have it both ways, but that will become
increasingly difficult…

As for
the rest of us, we owe to Mormon Americans respect for their human dignity,
protection of their religious freedom, readiness for friendship,
openness to honest dialogue, and an eagerness to join hands in social and
cultural tasks that advance the common good.
That, perhaps, is work enough, at least for the time being.

About
John Neuhaus’ publication First Things: Religion and Public Life

First
Things is published
under the auspices of Christian Leadership Ministries/CLM, an
affiliate of Campus Crusade for Christ.

First Things
Journal –
Editor: the ecumenical Richard John Neuhaus; also Christianity Today,
advisory editor; on the advisory board of Ethics and Public Policy Center/EPPC
with EPPC President Elliot Abrams [CFR],
Jeane Kirkpatrick [CFR] and John C.
Whitehead/Chairman of the board for the Federal Reserve/CFR;
collaborated with Chuck Colson [Wilberforce Forum] on the ecumenical document
Evangelicals & Catholics Together Document, 1994.

Ed. Note:
Jean Bethke Elshtain, First Things editor/advisor, is also on the
Wilberforce Forum [Chuck Colson and Nigel Cameron]
board of reference; faculty at the University of Chicago Divinity School [Assn.
of Theological Schools/ATS
member] as the Laura Spelman
Rockefeller Scholar of Social and Political Ethics;
Board of Trustees of the National Humanities Center in Research;
Co-Chair of the Pew Forum
on Religion and Public Life
with E.J. Dionne, who is a senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution;board
of the The National Commission for Civic Renewal

The Martin
E. Marty Center is the institute within the University of Chicago’s Divinity
School where Jean
Bethke Elshtain
is on the faculty. The Marty Center, named after Martin E.
Marty,
was “founded to promote public religion endeavors. Marty serves on the
John Templeton Foundation advisory and is a researcher at the Park Ridge Center
For the Study of Health, Faith and Ethics.
John
Kilner, President of the Center for
Bioethics & Human Dignity/CBHD,
worked at Park Ridge Center previously. The Center for Bioethics and
Wilberforce Forum
are promoted as the Christian answer to the genetics/ethics problem, but
CBHD and Wilberforce Forum are, in fact, a vehicle for controlling Christian
opposition on this matter. The two are
funded by undisclosed foundations and corporations. It is quite possible that
Sir John Templeton contributes to their coffers.

InterVarsity Press

Some of
us have argued, against the
relativizers of religious truth,
that dialogue with other perspectives should never preclude efforts at
evangelism. But
neither should a commitment to evangelism rule out genuine engagement in
dialogue.
This book is a model of a frank exchange
conducted with deep integrity. The dialogue between Evangelicals and Mormons
is long overdue.
I hope this much-needed, fascinating and important book gets widely read in
both communities. ~
Richard J. Mouw, president, Fuller Theological Seminary

Blomberg and Robinson
are bold men for writing a book that will undoubtedly draw fire from every
side. I may reserve some fire of my own for parts of their conclusions. Yet
after over 165 years of writing about
each other, it is high time that Evangelicals and Mormons began to talk to one another. This book
offers a tentative, but hopeful, first step in that direction. ~ Ken
Mulholland, president, Utah Institute for Biblical Studies

No evasions here. No
euphemisms. No petulance. This volume is an incisive person-to-person
dialogue on critical religious issues that pulls no punches and makes no
concessions. It is enjoyable, very informative and historic. It is the first
time two well-informed and articulate Evangelical and Mormon scholars have
publicly joined together to overcome mistrust, acrimony and differences
while unselfconsciously reaffirming their individual convictions. The result
is marvelously revealing. ~ Spencer J. Palmer,
professor emeritus of comparative religion, Brigham Young University

For too long,
relations between Evangelicals and Mormons have been marred by mistrust,
misunderstanding and misrepresentation. . . . This book is a truly
remarkable breakthrough. . . . This is must reading for Evangelicals,
Mormons and all who seek a worthy model for understanding and
loving their religious other. ~
David Paulsen, Richard L. Evans Chair for
Religious Understanding, Brigham Young University

Although it is
sure to spark controversy on both sides
of the divide, this significant book respectfully addresses many of the
crucial points of contention between
Mormons and Evangelical Christians in a way that avoids both hasty polemics
and superficial agreement. ~ Douglas Groothuis,
assistant professor of philosophy of religion and ethics, Denver Seminary

This
is a landmark book!
The first of its kind--and engaging dialogue between scholars of two
'opposing' religious communities presented in a context of civility and
mutual respect. It will have substantial significance both to Mormons and to
Evangelicals, and is sure to generate discussion. ~ Ronald
Enroth, Professory of Sociology, Westmont College

No
small step for the two writers,this
book is a giant step toward better understanding of some influential
contemporary Evangelicals and Mormons.
All
can learn from this model of
respectful dialogue,
although readers from either side may differ at points with their
representative writer and wish some other crucial issues could have been
featured. The remaining deep differences illustrate the
urgent need for scholars and evangelists to transcend their specialties and
integrate Old Testament, New Testament, historical, Systematic, apologetic
and practical concerns. ~
Gordon R. Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Denver
Theological Seminary

In interfaith
discussion, as in life, understanding begins with listening, which at its
best includes restating what the other is saying to his complete
satisfaction. It has happened too rarely on either side of the separate
Evangelical and Mormon traditions. In this volume, Professors Blomberg and
Robinson demonstrate determined goodwill to listen and accurately restate
the insights and idioms of each tradition. Their characterizations are
careful and rigorous. Their comparisons and contrasts are to the heart of
issues and not glancing hit-and-run stereotypes.
The book stirs hope that the Evangelical and
Mormon communities may together follow this example, this first step toward
mutual perception, and that willful misunderstandings will be replaced by
what each tradition advocates in the name of Jesus: love. ~
Truman G. Madsen, Professor Emeritus,
Philosophy and Religion, Brigham Young University

~ edited
for purposes of this report. See Watchman Fellowship web site for full text.
~

By Jason
Barker

Formal
interreligious dialogue, as the process is defined in these articles, has
occurred between the world religions for over a century. Beginning with
the
World's Parliament of Religions
in 1893,
major episodes in dialogue have occurred almost every decade. The
founding of the World Council of Churches in 1942 increased the pace of
interreligious and interfaith dialogue…

The
Current Status of Dialogue with NRMs…

The remaining relatively unexplored frontier for
interreligious dialogue is with new religious movements (NRMs). The most
significant dialogue between an evangelical and a Mormon has been How Wide the Divide?
A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation (henceforth referred
to as HWTD), published in 1997 by the evangelical InterVarsity Press
(interestingly, HWTD was originally to be co-published by
InterVarsity Press and the
LDS Church-owned Deseret Books)…

Reactions to HWTD have been mixed. Many counter-cult organizations
have reacted against some of the difficulties in Robinson's presentation of
Mormonism. Critics assert that Robinson's opinions are representative of
neither historical Mormonism or current LDS leadership. For example,
Francis Beckwith*
notes:

The more
interesting divide is not between Robinson and Blomberg, but between
Robinson and the founder of Mormonism. Consequently, the agreements between
Robinson and Blomberg in their joint conclusions should be taken with a
grain of salt, keeping in mind that Robinson, by his own admission, does not
speak for the LDS Church, even though some church members agree with his
views.

Despite this criticism, Beckwith states that the book
"isa
significant work in American religious history."

In
contrast to the opposition of the critics of HWTD, many
evangelical scholars have been encouraged by the attempt at irenic dialogue.Ron
Enroth
speculates that one reason for this academic approval is that "members of
the academy are not as threatened by the format and content of this
particular book as some counter-cult ministries seem to be." In
response to charges that Robinson does not accurately represent Mormon thought,Blomberg states that Robinson, even
though a theological "progressive,"is accepted as representative of the LDS mainstream by not only a wide
spectrum of Mormons, but also by some evangelical critics of the LDS Church.Robinson, in his own defense, notes that he has received no criticism
from other Mormons for his presentation of LDS doctrine, pointing out
that LDS leadership would remove him from his position if his teachings were
to contradict Mormon orthodoxy…

Dialogue
between evangelicals and the LDS Church can be
advantageous to the coexistence of both groups in contemporary American
society.
Mormons are becoming increasingly involved in social and political
activities commonly supported by evangelicals (such as efforts against
abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and the legalization of homosexual
marriage). Dialogue will allow both groups to understand the areas of
society in which they
can work together
while respecting the religious boundaries that necessarily separate them.
To be effective, however, this dialogue must adhere to guidelines, such as
those laid out in the previous article, that will allow an increase in
mutual understanding without compromising doctrinal integrity.

Francis
Beckwith is Ethics Editor for the Christian
Research Institute’s CRI JOURNAL
and has been with CRI since 1988.

Note that
Enroth
is in the middle of the dialoguing.

Note how
Mormon Robinson is labeled by Blomberg as
“progressive”;
is there a scale of progression towards Christianity?

Note that
this article could well serve the World Congress of Families as their raison d’
etre.

Christian Research
Institute’s CRI JOURNAL ~ Nov-Dec 1997

Book Reviews

How
Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation

James White
[EMNR member org Alpha & Omega Ministries]

…Dr. Blomberg has told
me in no uncertain terms that he does not consider Momonism a valid
Christian faith, and that he actually wanted to discuss this issue in the
book, but the editors did not feel such a discussion should be included. One
cannot but question the editorial judgement shown by InterVarsity Press, a
widely respected Christian publisher, in offering this volume to the reading
public.

“Christian” Publishing
House works with Mormon Church…

The following exposé article is taken from the Saints Alive [Ed Decker] web
site:

As mentioned
in an earlier Newsletter, the Mormon Church has come up with its most successful
and most non-Mormon ad campaign in its history.

Today, its
television and radio ads talk about calling a toll free number to get a free
copy of the Holy Bible...and the doors are opening as never before. One can only
wonder if Thomas
Nelson Publishing
realizes or even cares how many innocent people are seduced through this glib
bait and switch tactic into the dark side of Mormonism and on to a Christless
eternity because of the Bible it publishes for the LDS church! Will the money
they make from it still be worth it when they stand before God at the White
Throne judgment?

We called
the publisher and they said their policy is that it is O.K. to sell anything to
anyone who can purchase the item (Bible) in public. The publisher said they
wouldn’t alter the integrity of the Bible in anyway such as translation or
special interpretations. But the inside cover page says it is from the LDS
Church.

Saints Alive
is in the process of submitting a written inquiry to obtain an official response
from Thomas Nelson Publishers about the ethics and decision making process used
in setting up their deal with the Mormon Church.

Here is an
excerpt letter that accompanies the free Thomas
Neslon-LDS bible:

Dear
Friend: Thank you for your interest in THE BIBLE. Like you, millions are
discovering that the message that can change the world hasn’t changed. If, after
receiving THE BIBLE you would like to know more about how the teachings of Jesus
Christ can help you and your family, representatives of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints will gladly arrange a visit that is convenient to
your schedule. They will also bring you a free copy of The Book of Mormon. May
the message of The Bible help you find the greater love and happiness we all
desire.

Sincerely,
Stephen Allen (signed) Public Programs

P.S. Along
with The Bible, you’ll want to read THE BOOK OF MORMON: Another Testament Of
Jesus Christ. This powerful scripture supports and clarifies the teachings in
The Bible.

Ed Decker
comments:

The fact is, Mormons are
not Christians. The simple gospel of Jesus Christ is not enough, because without
“Exaltation” to Godhood, the ultimate reality of the Gospel is not the same
taught by the LDS Church. Christians are follower of Christ and take His place
of righteousness as “co-heirs” and Mormons seek their own righteousness to
become Gods in their own righteousness.

Blomberg and Beckwith
share EMNR 2000 platform…

Previously found: <
www.emnr.org/conf.htm

EMNR 2000 Conference

Last updated Feb. 2000

Postmoderism and Spirituality: Do the
Pieces Fit?

Evangelical Ministries
to New Religions (EMNR) is pleased to announce the gathering of a
nationally-recognized team of experts in
Denver, Colorado, on February 18-20, 2000.

They will assemble
to explain and make sense of the changing shape
of religion in the West. This noteworthy
group of Christian missionaries, degreed theologians, and researchers into
“cultic” or non-traditional religions
will address the theme, Postmodernism and Spirituality; Do the Pieces Fit?

This conference, which
is open to the public is sponsored by EMNR and is being co-sponsored by….

Although the
orientation is Christian, people of all faiths and those of no faith are
welcome to attend…

On the morning and
afternoon of the Main conference (Feb. 18th), there will be a
special Summit conference intended primarily for EMNR members or for
prospective members who are involved in countercult ministry.

Who are the main speakers?

A number of speakers
will be highlighting the full conference program, although there will be
some super-interesting workshops as well. Here’s the line-up of our main
presenters:

•
Dr. Norman Geisler, dean of Southern
Evangelical Seminary…

•
Dr. Doug Groothuis, professor of
philosophy at Denver Seminary…

[Christian Research Institute CRI JOURNAL Contributing Editor since
1987; previously worked with the Campus Crusade-affiliated Probe Ministries;
endorsed Craig Blomberg’s book along with EMNR/Evangelical Ministries to New
Religions foundersGordon Lewisand
Ronald Enroth.]

[Roberts is an EMNR
board member and involved with SBC interfaith dialogue––Roman Catholic.]

• Carl Mosser
[member of the
Evangelical Theological Society]

•
Francis Beckwith[Christian Research Institute CRI JOURNAL
Contributing Editor and later Ethics Editor since 1988; fellow at Discovery
Institute’s Center for the Renewal of Science & Culture/CRSC; fellow at the
Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity/CBHD––supported by corporations &
foundations [Nigel Cameron and John Kilner].
See:
EMNR Part 4: Discovery Institute

•Craig
Blomberg[Author of the ecumenical How Wide the Divide?:
A Mormon & An Evangelical in Conversation; Blomberg’s New Testament
curriculum is endorsed/used by CCCU/CUGN. See below.] See also:
SCP, Templeton & CCCU

Topic of the Mosser/Beckwith/Blomberg
speech was “Evangelizing Mormons in the Next Millennium: A New Focus on
Scholarship?”

Two
renowned Bible scholars
lead you through the courses -- Dr.
Craig Blomberg
(professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary) and Dr. Douglas Stuart
(professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary). The
courses also include supplemental teaching and study resources from Philip
Yancey [Christianity
Today editor at large],
Ray Stedman, Robert Gundry, and others.

The Worldwide Church of
God:

EMNR’s Model for
Mainstreaming Mormonism

During the early 1990s,
after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong and a multitude of scandals that
eventuated in class-action litigation, the Worldwide Church of God changed some
of their false doctrines, or at least the public perception of its doctrines.
In 1993, the WCG accepted the doctrine of the Trinity, which it had previously
denied. In 1997, the WCG was
accepted into the membership of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE).

Some ex-members of the WCG
claim that this move to ‘orthodoxy’ is all window dressing; that the Worldwide
Church of God has not changed. Despite their warnings, many Christian ministries
who were contacted by ex-WCG members began public dialogues with WCG leaders,
promoting the notion that the Worldwide Church of God is now a mainstream
Christian denomination.

Included in this
dialoguing were Christian Research Institute’s
Hank Hanegraff, Paul Carden, Eric Pement [EMNR board member], Alan Gomes [who
attended Fuller Theological Seminary] and Bob & Gretchen Passantino [members of
EMNR through Eric Pement’s Cornerstone Apologetics Research Team [CART]
affiliated with Cornerstone Magazine/Jesus People USA, who have appeared as
speakers at EMNR conferences]. The Passantinos have appeared as speakers at EMNR
conferences; Bob Passantino at EMNR's Rockford Conference, 1989 and Gretchen at
EMNR's 1994 Philadelphia Conference.].

Hank
Hanegraaff marketed his
Dialog with Hank: WCG A Church Reborn “you will be encouraged and
enlightened …” [series of taped discussions with Joseph Tkach Jr., Pastor
General of the WCG and Greg Albrecht, Editor of Plain Truth Magazine] through
CRI’s EQUIP bookstore.

Christian Research
Institute/CRI Gretchen Passantino’s revised entry on the Worldwide Church
of God found in Walter Martin’s Kingdom of the Cults is posted on the WCG
web site:

The
following appeared in Appendix A, pages 471 to 473, of Kingdom of the Cults, by
Walter Martin (Bethany House Publishers, 1997). It is reprinted here by
permission of Bethany House. The late Dr. Martin was founder of the Christian
Research Institute, and original host of The Bible Answer Man radio broadcast.
He was succeeded by Hank Hanegraaff.

This
updated appendix replaces the 1985 edition's chapter 12, "Herbert W. Armstrong
and the Worldwide Church of God--Anglo-Israelism." Some
statistical material has become out of date since the book was printed.

By Kurt Van
Gorden

Edited by
Gretchen Passantino

Appendix A

The
Worldwide Church of God: From Cult to Christianity…

Christianity Today
published WCG apologist Ruth Tucker’s “From
the Fringe to the Fold: How the Worldwide Church of God discovered the plain
truth of the gospel.” Tucker is a professor at the Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School/TEDS. TEDS is affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America/EFCA
denomination.

Evangelical Responses. [Ruth]Tucker speaks warmly of her friends in the WCG leadership.
“I’ve always appreciated their openness and their honesty. I never once caught
them misrepresenting anything to me.” Does she consider the WCG an orthodox
Christian denomination? “Absolutely. Categorically. I would sign my name on the
dotted line,” she told the JOURNAL. “I’m not saying they necessarily have the
right take on the Old Testament feasts or eternal punishment, but their
thinking is much clearer on salvation by grace and on the Trinity.”

Nor does
Tucker believe the Worldwide Church of God should change its name, although it’s
very different from the WCG of Herbert Armstrong.

“Let this go
down forever in history, that a movement outside orthodoxy can turn to God, turn
to truth, and hold its name high,” Tucker said. “As a church historian, I cannot
cite anything else like this.”

Philip
Arnn of Watchman Fellowship
has been more skeptical of the WCG’s changes, but he too
believes the denomination has made significant progress.

“The
doctrinal changes are extraordinary. On all the cardinal doctrines — the nature
of God, soteriology, the identity of the body of Christ — they are
now orthodox.…

Doug Le
Blanc a Christian Research Journal, contributing Editor and an Associate Editor
at
Christianity Today

CRI JOURNAL,
September-October 1997 carried a full-page advertisement BABYLON: Past,
Present…and Future “available… simply call Plain
Truth Ministries” [publishing arm of the
Worldwide Church of God]. Many of the CRI JOURNALS have carried full-page
ads for the Jesus Film–– a project of Campus Crusade for Christ serving as a
promo for the Lausanne Consultation for World Evangelization/LCWE.

EMNR Roundtable Talks with
WCG’s Joseph Tkach…

An EMNR conference
provided yet another venue for the Worldwide Church of God to advance the belief
that WCG is no longer a cult: